Shelby GT350R: Ford's fastest Mustang shows high-tech can redeem American muscle - PCWorld
Ever since it released its first all-electric Focus in 2011, Ford has had a vocal technology story to share—but for car enthusiasts that story has been snoozier than a Hallmark Channel marathon. But now all that changes with the Shelby GT350 , a car I still can’t stopping thinking about, some five days since I’ve given back the keys. Ford’s latest halo Mustang has all the makings of a track-day superstar, and it gets there not on brute-force horsepower—which it has to the tune of 526 pissed-off ponies—but on a high-tech makeover of every system that makes a car stick to... A fresh take on naturally aspirated horsepower Ford’s 5. 2 liter V8 makes 526 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque—and it reaches these gaudy numbers via natural aspiration. You know, just like an old-timey car from 2001. Ford’s an enthusiastic proponent of turbocharging (see EcoBoost, which permeates its line-up), but in the GT350, the engineers opted for a somewhat exotic engine design that makes silly gobs of power... But Ford’s engine play isn’t a contrarian gimmick. The key innovation is a flat-plane crankshaft that positions connecting rods at 180-degree intervals rather than 90-degree intervals, per the typical V8. Ford explains the engine in detail here , and this supernerd chalk-talk dives even deeper. Ferrari uses a flat-plane crankshaft in its V8, and Ford’s engine sounds just as exotic to the untrained ear. Source: www.pcworld.com
